Research Areas
Advanced Functional Materials
Materials Chemistry is a flourishing field of research. Development of novel materials for a variety of applications has attracted substantial attention from researchers across the world. In this direction, various research groups from this department have invested their efforts. They have been working towards synthesis of Coordination solids are potential for various applications in materials chemistry including as non-linear optical materials, in selective gas absorption and separation, separation of isomers via selective enclathration, in catalysis and as magnetic materials. Design and controllable synthesis of such material utilizing appropriate organic ligands capable of coordinating with various metal ion of choice has been intriguing part of his research. Also, projects involving designing transition metal based sensitizer for dye sensitized solar cell are being undertaken. Certain groups are actively engaged in the field of coordination chemistry of alkali metals and alkaline earth metals of carboxylates and azo dyes having carboxyl and hydroxyl functional groups. Researchers of this department also have expertise that involves design and exploration of various novel porphyrinoids for application in materials chemistry. For instance, developing efficient multiphoton absorbing materials. Research is also being carried out to elucidate photophysical properties of the coordination polymers to create electroluminescent materials for LEDs.
Natural Products and Environmental Chemistry
Our university is situated at a biodiversity \hotspot" and explor- ing this rich bio-heritage is not just advantageous for us but it's our responsibility too. Scientists in our department have expe- rience in isolation, identi cation and pro ling of phytochemicals and natural products. E orts are also being made to determine the medicinal and other useful properties of the natural products. In addition identi cation of environmental pollutants in soil and water and their degradation behavior are also being studied in this department. Environmental remediation is also another aspect of research in this department and in this direction technologies are being developed for soil and water treatment processes. Soil also exhibits excellent cosmetic properties study of these properties has also been a topic of interest to researchers at our department.
Theoretical and Computational Chemistry
The research interests of these groups are centered on the de- velopment of computational and theoretical protocols of under- standing chemical properties of materials. The research interests of these groups are centered on the development of computational and theoretical protocols of understanding chemical properties of materials. The group has set up a new centre called \Advanced Computational Chemistry Centre" where state of the art compu- tations are applied to understand and to explore various aspects of chemistry. Moreover, the group is actively engaged in intra as well as inter discipline collaborative works with various experi- mental groups. Theoretical biological chemistry as well as noble gas compounds is being pursued. Extending this research to ex- plore other fascinating behavior that noble gas compounds might exhibit. The other research interests of the group include com- putational exploration of biophysical processes and bioinorganic systems. Bonding and properties of transient species and clus- ters of main-group elements has captures substantial interest of researchers in this department. Certain groups have also taken up in-silico modeling and simulation studies involving biomolecules and their behavior in di erent environments and their interactions with drugs.
Bioorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry
Development of new compounds and materials for biological applications is another hot field of research. Novel materials for diagnosis and therapeutic applications in the context of various diseases are a highly relevant area of research. The researchers in this department are not lagging far behind. Transition metal complexes and polymers with an idea to utilize them as anti-microbial and anti-cancer agents are being developed. Luminescent clusters have gained attention for bio-imaging, bio-sensing and bio-labeling in the recent past due to their biocompatibility, non-toxicity and high photo stability. Scientists are working on synthesis of fluorescent Au and Ag nanoclusters. The roles of organic capping ligands on the luminescence properties of these clusters are being evaluated. Further, these clusters are being screened for potential bio-imaging in cancer cells. ROS generating nanoparticles to immunomodulate tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) for cancer therapy are being studied. Researchers are also interested in designing nano-formulations for diagnosis and therpay of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Research interests also include developing material endowed with the ability to respond to stimuli such as exhibiting proton coupled electron transfers which are activated under certain physiological condition (such as pH, reducing environment etc.) triggering NIR-II (1000–1350 nm) absorption. This in turn produces signal capable of indicating a particular physiological state of tissues. In order to study such system with therapeutic and imaging properties nanoparticle (NP) encapsulation strategy could be effectively employed to explore porphyrinoids in biological milieus.
Catalysis for Industrially Relevant Processes
Research in this direction utilizes various physical methods for synthesis and characterization of di erent transition metal incor- porated mesoporous clay and zeolitic materials. Research groups are interested in elucidating properties of these materials for po- tential application in adsorption of environmental pollutants, their catalytic degradation and removal from air and water sources. They are also fascinated by the clean and green catalytic proper- ties that these porous materials tend to exhibit. E orts have been made to design and synthesize of new conducting Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) for potent application in this direction of re- search. From a long time, MOFs are applied in Gas storage and gas separation applications, but now exploration of MOFs elec- tro conducting ability can make them available for various elec- trocatalytic applications. Certain grouops are also interested in exploration of various other techniques like doping, converting to single atom over carbon layer etc to increase the conducting abil- ity of other non- conducting MOFs and later they can be used as ORR/HER electrocatalyst for fuel cell, water splitting technology. Exploring yet another dimension of research is the development of newer materials for xation of atmospheric carbondioxide and generation of value added products